Swiss bank UBS seeks to block new Holocaust-era account claims

Swiss bank UBS has asked a federal judge in New York to issue an order protecting the institution from new lawsuits regarding Holocaust-era accounts. The petition filed in a Brooklyn court aims to block potential claims arising from an internal investigation launched in 2020 by Credit Suisse. That investigation revealed the existence of 890 bank accounts that may have links to Nazis or individuals on war criminal lists. UBS, which finalized the acquisition of Credit Suisse in 2023, argues that all financial matters from the World War II period were conclusively settled. The bank seeks legal clarity that would prevent Jewish organizations from pursuing further financial resources.

The bank's lawyers maintain that the 1999 global settlement worth $1.25 billion exhausts all possible claims related to that period. According to documents presented in court, that agreement was intended to cover past, present, and future claims, protecting Swiss financial institutions from further civil liability. 1,25 (miliarda dolarów) — value of the settlement paid to victims of Nazism 458 000 (osób) — number of victims who received funds The bank emphasizes that reopening World War II-era cases would violate the principles of the compromise reached years ago. Funds from the original settlement were paid to over 458,000 victims of Nazism and their families. UBS argues that current attempts to undermine this agreement are unfounded under existing law.

The UBS petition has met with strong opposition from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which cites, among other things, freedom of speech. The case is being handled by Edward Korman, the same judge who oversaw the historic 1999 settlement. The organization argues that new evidence concerning the 890 accounts requires full transparency and cannot be ignored under the pretext of old agreements. The judge will have to decide whether the scope of the settlement from 27 years ago actually blocks the possibility of investigating newly discovered links to Nazi assets. The case of Swiss Holocaust victim accounts erupted in the mid-1990s when Swiss banks were accused of holding assets of Nazi victims and laundering gold looted by the Third Reich. Under international pressure and the threat of sanctions in the USA, Swiss financial institutions agreed to create a compensation fund. The 1999 settlement was the result of years of negotiations supervised by Judge Korman and the Bill Clinton administration, aimed at finally settling claims against the banks.

Dispute over Nazi-era accounts: 1999 — Global settlement; 2020 — Credit Suisse investigation; 12 June 2023 — Bank acquisition; 10 March 2026 — Court petition

„Both UBS and Credit Suisse apologised and reached a global settlement in 1999 that finalized all Nazi-era claims, including any future claims” — UBS via Reuters